PHOTO: WARWICK SMITH/STUFF Almost 300 state homes are on their way out of the Government’s portfolio, some earmarked for demolition. (File photo)
Buried in the blizzard of Budget papers which blew through in May was a $50 million increase to emergency housing funding – a jump of 70 per cent on the previous year.
The money, to be administered as special needs grants, will largely be used to pay for motels or hostels for those in urgent need of somewhere to stay, who are unable to access transitional or longer-term public housing.
But as more than 11,000 applicants patiently await proper social housing, 1261 public houses across the country were sitting vacant at the end of March, Housing New Zealand (HNZ) has confirmed.
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